[lettie]

The fact remains that there is a child missing in a foreign country. The parents must be frantic and probably beside themselves with guilt and worry. However, the parents have been extremely negligent and foolish and hopefully this incident will be investigated thoroughly by the police child protection dept and social services on their return home. Had they employed the babysitting service, even if it turns out that checks are only half hourly, the parents would have then been seen to have tried to ensure their childrens' safety.

We all know that young children can wake up at frequent intervals and get up to all sorts of mischief, even when their parents are in the same house, but at least the parents are within earshot when in the same house (my mum will testify to this because she used to catch me getting up to all sorts when I was supposed to be asleep).